In an unimportant corner of the world...
Down a steep slope, lay a 'forest', virgin and pristine,
of incredible charm; hitherto unseen.
Its future looked bright for fauna to abound,
until..that fateful day, when things turned around!
After a month of glory in isolation,
'twas noticed, and they demanded destruction.
I, its caretaker, resisted and revolted.
But by then, a movement (mainly within the opposite sex) had already initiated.
Just three women, a few guys, came to the rescue of the woods;
claiming chopping it off, won't do any good.
To me, how did that matter?
when my own, sweet mother, had joined the cruel banter!
Options aplenty, but solutions- none,
I took my instruments, and cut it all off- one by one!
(After an hour)
I looked into the mirror, with utmost shame
without what I nurtured, I had no name!
On seeing me, my mother exclaimed, "You look cute! You look sane!"
Pause. I looked at her and said,
"But I'll never shave again!!"
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
'A Sexual Deceit'
Introduction: Journey of a child into knowing all about sex in the so-called Land of Kama Sutra...
Ever since a child is born, he sets out on a mission to unravel all the mysteries; solve every puzzle that puzzles his tiny brain. That’s why they say, “A child is the father of a man”; not knowing that a child’s biggest mystery lies in the proverb itself- how to become a father? (!)
Today I’m 17, just months away from (legal) adulthood. For twelve long years I had gone through a ‘sexual deceit’. The mystery wasn’t difficult to solve (a fact you realise only after you solve it) but the conservative Indian society put curtains on every clue I found. Misleading every ‘detective’ is its strategy, but ultimately determination, inquisition and unity (among fellow ‘detectives’) emerge victorious.
Our reformers taught us to have a sense of reasoning. I had it like any other kid, since the very beginning of my breath. In my early days, I had seen women with hanging tummies and was told they were pregnant. So Clue # 1- a pregnant woman! How on earth did a kid get in there? You would like to know, but the cunnning Indian society plays its sexual deceit and covers up the fact with a myth that has been passed on from a mother to her child and from child (a parent, later on) to his child…”A child is a God’s gift. Angels come to the earth and gift him to his mother!” My inborn rationality had ruled it out completely. After this, most of ‘kidhood’ passed off thinking un-(re)productive thoughts, barring only one incident. Whenever my brother (4 years elder to me) denied getting married, my father would say, “We all say that when we are kids, but all of us have to marry some day.” Yes, marriage was the next clue...
At the age of 8, I got my first big breakthrough after watching the movie Kya Kehna. The film revolutionised my thoughts and perception, but also had me puzzled for a while. The scene- when Preity Zinta becomes pregnant and is avoided by her colleagues- I ask my sobbing mother, “Why is she being ignored?”. “It’s not considered good to be pregnant before marriage”, was her simple justification. But wait! Pregnancy without marriage! Clue # 2, off you go! But then, how does that happen? Has sleeping together got something to do with it? I remembered having seen a few first night scenes in films where the couples undress; kiss and hug, then sleep (un)covered beneath a blanket. But they were all married…Preity wasn’t! But she slept naked with Saif …I could feel, I had come closer to the suspense until I encountered one last, and major dilemma. Pondering over the ‘data’ I had gathered, I was taken aback by my own sense of reasoning. It said, “If a couple sleeps naked, why does the female only turn pregnant?” Something has to get into the female’s tummy…but how, and what, and why??? Only Nature could wipe out the question marks, I felt and retired into dormancy.
One fine afternoon my friend came upto me (then 12 yrs old) and asked, “Hey you know how kids are born?” I looked with denial at his excited face. “Know what? A man has to insert his penis into a woman’s vagina and……!” He went on and on in a Hindi which got ‘slanger’ with each word he spoke. So the cat was finally out of the bag, but its tail got stuck! I had residual doubts. I could not digest the fact (not yet a fact for me) that my mom and dad could do it. But his explanation made sense. Moreover it was just an extension to my ‘data’. No but, mom and dad…! Pg.141, Chapter-Reproduction of my Class 7 textbook; I turned over to it, following my friend’s instructions. All doubts vanished as I began reading and it was clear that this is what Saif had done to Preity; this is what my parents and everyone else’s parents have done. The whole world, infact is all about what I then learned was sex!
Few days later I again turned to my source (that same old friend) for an answer to a question which my brother was embarassed to answer. “You know why women wear Whisper?” I got a gem of an explanation. “Look we’re guys. While travelling we can get down and pee anywhere. But ladies can’t; so Whisper is like a diaper.” There was confidence in his voice and naivety on my face. We were still kids!
Years later and few days ago, I overheard a bunch of kids talking about sex. My friends and I quizzed the 11 year olds (!). Ten on ten! They knew as much as we did…only our outlooks differed. For them it was enjoyment, for us it was a serious issue. Their viewpoint would have been different, if only our society hadn’t deceived them. In them I saw a new India. Shiv Sena & Shri Ram Sene would call it westernisation. I say, it’s modernisation…of thoughts.
Ever since a child is born, he sets out on a mission to unravel all the mysteries; solve every puzzle that puzzles his tiny brain. That’s why they say, “A child is the father of a man”; not knowing that a child’s biggest mystery lies in the proverb itself- how to become a father? (!)
Today I’m 17, just months away from (legal) adulthood. For twelve long years I had gone through a ‘sexual deceit’. The mystery wasn’t difficult to solve (a fact you realise only after you solve it) but the conservative Indian society put curtains on every clue I found. Misleading every ‘detective’ is its strategy, but ultimately determination, inquisition and unity (among fellow ‘detectives’) emerge victorious.
Our reformers taught us to have a sense of reasoning. I had it like any other kid, since the very beginning of my breath. In my early days, I had seen women with hanging tummies and was told they were pregnant. So Clue # 1- a pregnant woman! How on earth did a kid get in there? You would like to know, but the cunnning Indian society plays its sexual deceit and covers up the fact with a myth that has been passed on from a mother to her child and from child (a parent, later on) to his child…”A child is a God’s gift. Angels come to the earth and gift him to his mother!” My inborn rationality had ruled it out completely. After this, most of ‘kidhood’ passed off thinking un-(re)productive thoughts, barring only one incident. Whenever my brother (4 years elder to me) denied getting married, my father would say, “We all say that when we are kids, but all of us have to marry some day.” Yes, marriage was the next clue...
At the age of 8, I got my first big breakthrough after watching the movie Kya Kehna. The film revolutionised my thoughts and perception, but also had me puzzled for a while. The scene- when Preity Zinta becomes pregnant and is avoided by her colleagues- I ask my sobbing mother, “Why is she being ignored?”. “It’s not considered good to be pregnant before marriage”, was her simple justification. But wait! Pregnancy without marriage! Clue # 2, off you go! But then, how does that happen? Has sleeping together got something to do with it? I remembered having seen a few first night scenes in films where the couples undress; kiss and hug, then sleep (un)covered beneath a blanket. But they were all married…Preity wasn’t! But she slept naked with Saif …I could feel, I had come closer to the suspense until I encountered one last, and major dilemma. Pondering over the ‘data’ I had gathered, I was taken aback by my own sense of reasoning. It said, “If a couple sleeps naked, why does the female only turn pregnant?” Something has to get into the female’s tummy…but how, and what, and why??? Only Nature could wipe out the question marks, I felt and retired into dormancy.
One fine afternoon my friend came upto me (then 12 yrs old) and asked, “Hey you know how kids are born?” I looked with denial at his excited face. “Know what? A man has to insert his penis into a woman’s vagina and……!” He went on and on in a Hindi which got ‘slanger’ with each word he spoke. So the cat was finally out of the bag, but its tail got stuck! I had residual doubts. I could not digest the fact (not yet a fact for me) that my mom and dad could do it. But his explanation made sense. Moreover it was just an extension to my ‘data’. No but, mom and dad…! Pg.141, Chapter-Reproduction of my Class 7 textbook; I turned over to it, following my friend’s instructions. All doubts vanished as I began reading and it was clear that this is what Saif had done to Preity; this is what my parents and everyone else’s parents have done. The whole world, infact is all about what I then learned was sex!
Few days later I again turned to my source (that same old friend) for an answer to a question which my brother was embarassed to answer. “You know why women wear Whisper?” I got a gem of an explanation. “Look we’re guys. While travelling we can get down and pee anywhere. But ladies can’t; so Whisper is like a diaper.” There was confidence in his voice and naivety on my face. We were still kids!
Years later and few days ago, I overheard a bunch of kids talking about sex. My friends and I quizzed the 11 year olds (!). Ten on ten! They knew as much as we did…only our outlooks differed. For them it was enjoyment, for us it was a serious issue. Their viewpoint would have been different, if only our society hadn’t deceived them. In them I saw a new India. Shiv Sena & Shri Ram Sene would call it westernisation. I say, it’s modernisation…of thoughts.
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